ECC Beat 8/1/2025

Test Your Knowledge with This Week’s 2025 American Heart Association
Guidelines for CPR & ECC Trivia Question

When was the first portable external defibrillator introduced?

• 1957
• 1977
• 1927
• 1997

Scroll down to the red box located under the CPR save story further below for the answer!

Also, please remember to visit the 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR & ECC webpage (log in required) for all the latest information and resources for the Guidelines release on October 22, 2025.

 Apply for the American Heart Association Resuscitation Science Symposium (ReSS) EMS Travel Grant

The American Heart Association Council on Cardiopulmonary, Critical Care, Perioperative and Resuscitation (3CPR) is sponsoring EMS travel grants to allow full-time EMS personnel to attend ReSS, which will be held Nov. 8-9 in New Orleans, LA. Applicants must hold appropriate EMS credentials, at either the EMT or paramedic level. Travel grant recipients are selected based on their commitment and interest in cardiac arrest, CPR and resuscitation care. The deadline to apply is 6 p.m. CT August 22, 2025. Learn more about the EMS Travel Grant and apply today!

Boost Your Stroke Knowledge with New Interactive Quiz: Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: Take the Challenge

The American Stroke Association and World Stroke Organization have jointly developed a Jeopardy!-style challenge to test your knowledge of Cerebral Venous Thrombosis (CVT). If you get excited when health care topics pop up in a game show, get ready to polish your stroke expertise in an engaging way.

On July 29, the American Heart Association’s Professional Education Hub launched “Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: Take the Challenge,” a complimentary online quiz to educate physicians, nurses, stroke coordinators, and allied health professionals on CVT ‒ which accounts for up to three percent of all strokes. To complete the challenge, you’ll answer CVT-related questions across six categories and track your progress with points. If you score at least 80 percent of the questions correctly, you’ll be awarded with a certificate of completion for the challenge. You can repeat the questions as many times as you’d like, but completing this online challenge does not count towards continuing education.

Just 30 minutes of your time can refine your knowledge of CVT and improve patient care and outcomes – and that’s not something you want to wager on outside of any game shows.

 Saved by a Friend: How CPR Training Turned a Cabin Crisis into a Miracle

Tyson Yeck and 19 fraternity brothers from the University of Oregon gathered at Max LeeKwai’s remote cabin for their annual “Boiling Man Cabin Games,” a weekend of friendly competition and camaraderie. The event, named after a past hot tub mishap, featured quirky games like “The Blind Samurai” and “forest soccer.” During one of the challenges, Yeck, known for his fitness and competitive spirit, suddenly collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. Initially mistaken for a joke, his condition quickly became serious, prompting LeeKwai—trained as an emergency medical responder—to perform CPR while others called for help and assisted.

Thanks to LeeKwai’s quick response and the timely arrival of first responders, Yeck was revived after 20 minutes of CPR and defibrillation. He was airlifted to a hospital where his heart stopped multiple times before undergoing emergency surgery and receiving an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. His recovery was slow and challenging, requiring him to relearn basic tasks like walking. Despite the ordeal, Yeck returned to work within weeks and embraced a new perspective on life, emphasizing gratitude, love, and service. He credited his survival to LeeKwai’s actions, the medical team, and the support of his friends and family.

Yeck’s experience inspired a wave of CPR awareness among his peers and workplace. His company implemented CPR training and installed AEDs, and most of the cabin group followed suit. At the 2023 Cabin Games, Yeck was honored with the engraved axe and a signed soccer ball, symbolizing his triumph over adversity. His journey continued with further heart procedures, but he now views his condition not as a weakness but as a mission to live meaningfully. LeeKwai, deeply impacted by the event, keeps an AED close at all times, grateful for the training that helped save his friend’s life. Visit here for the full story.

>>>> The answer to the trivia question is…1957!

In 1957, after years of research on closed-chest defibrillation, Dr. Kouwenhoven’s team at Johns Hopkins—including James Jude, MD, and Guy Knickerbocker, PhD—unveiled the first prototype of a portable external defibrillator. The 200-pound device, called the Hopkins Closed Chest Defibrillator, was mounted on a wheeled cart for mobility.

New Guidelines, New Expectations: Join Us at CASSummit and
Learn What’s Changing

New Compliance Incident Form

To improve the communication process related to compliance issues, the American Heart Association has introduced a new Training Incident Form. This form allows the Training Network to submit their concerns quickly and securely.

To report an ECC compliance incident, users will complete the required fields in the form and select “Submit.” If the form does not appear, please refresh the page.

The Association will review all submissions and will investigate when one or more of the following are involved:

• Course content/curriculum
• Instructor qualifications
• AHA administrative policies and procedures
• AHA ECC science
• AHA TC Agreement and program guidelines

Association Training Centers (TCs) are independent businesses. Any issues regarding the conduct of TC business must be resolved by the Training Center Coordinator (TCC) for the Center.